Chapel Hill trash could be dumped in Durham as early as next year

Chapel Hill trash could be dumped on Durham as soon as next year.

But because of environmental concerns, Carrboro Mayor Mark Chilton opposes the plan to move local waste to the City of Durham Transfer Station when Orange County’s landfill reaches capacity — and tonight, he’ll share his views with Orange County Commissioners.

The Orange County Board of Commissioners will meet today to discuss the future of the Orange County landfill, which could reach capacity between 2013 and 2017, forcing it to close.

Chilton, who has proposed building a new waste transfer station in Chapel Hill, said he hopes the board will reconsider the plan because it would take more fuel to ship waste to Durham, and because the Durham station does not require as many materials to be recycled.

While Orange County bans corrugated cardboard and scrap metal from its landfill, the Durham transfer station does not.

Gayle Wilson, Orange County solid waste management director, said incoming waste at the Orange County landfill is inspected to determine if it contains banned materials, but the county would no longer control these inspections if waste is sent to Durham.

“Waste would not be scrutinized to verify if the waste was being properly managed according to Orange County’s standards,” he said. “I would suspect that it is possible less waste would be recycled or diverted from the waste stream.”

Chilton said Orange County was the first county in North Carolina to reach mandated waste reduction goals, and switching to the Durham station would undo the progress.

Though Durham’s plant doesn’t require as many materials to be separated, Chris Marriott, solid waste disposal manager at the City of Durham, said the transfer station adheres to North Carolina’s laws on waste.

“The City of Durham already encourages the recycling of cardboard and scrap metal at its transfer station,” Marriott said in an email.

Una Sammon, co-chairwoman of Students Working for Environmental Action and Transformation at UNC’s Campus Y, said in light of the different trash policies, she thinks transferring waste to Durham is not a long-term solution for Orange County.

“It’s a problem that needs a bigger solution, and there isn’t one that people are willing to adopt,” she said.

Chilton also said the increased fuel use of transporting waste to Durham would lead to increased air pollution. He is also concerned about the financial impact, he said.

Chilton said Carrboro and Chapel Hill will pay an additional $200,000 and $700,000 in fuel costs, respectively, if Orange County waste is transferred to Durham.

“The main concern is about the additional cost, about transporting all Carrboro and Chapel Hill’s waste to that facility,” he said.

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